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Catherine Cortez MastoDEMDemocrat United States Senator
60
Years of Age
12
Years of Experience
NVResidence (state)

Catherine Marie Cortez Masto (born March 29, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Nevada, a seat she has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Cortez Masto served as the 32nd attorney general of Nevada from 2007 to 2015. Cortez Masto graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno and Gonzaga University School of Law. She worked four years as a civil attorney in Las Vegas and two years as a criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. before being elected Nevada attorney general in 2006, replacing George Chanos. Reelected in 2010, she was not eligible to run for a third term in 2014 because of lifetime term limits established by the Constitution of Nevada. Cortez Masto narrowly defeated Republican Joe Heck in the 2016 United States Senate election in Nevada to replace outgoing Democratic senator Harry Reid, becoming the first woman elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first Latina elected to serve in the upper chamber. She took office on January 3, 2017, and became Nevada's senior senator in January 2019, when Dean Heller left the Senate following his defeat. She was narrowly reelected in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Adam Laxalt.

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Education5 - 5 of 3
University of Nevada, Reno
Bachelor of Science finance
1986
Ed W. Clark High School
Gonzaga University School of Law
Juris Doctor
1990
Past Positions1 - 12 of 12
Vice Chair
Democratic Outreach Committee
2023 - Current
Chair
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, United States Senate
2017 - 2021
Senator
United States Senate, Nevada
2016 - Current
Attorney General
State of Nevada
2007 - 2014
Assistant County Manager
Clark County
2002 - 2007
Executive Vice Chancellor
Nevada System of Higher Education
2003
Assistant
United States Attorney
2000 - 2002
Chief of Staff
Governor Bob Miller
1998 - 2002
Former Federal Criminal Prosecutor
United States Attorney's Office, Washington District of Columbia
1999 - 2001
Southern District Director
Governor Bob Miller
1995 - 1998
Assistant County Manager, Clark County
Chief
Law Enforcement Officer
Other Experience1 - 19 of 19
Chair
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
2019 - Current
Member
Nevada State Bar Association
1990 - Current
Founder
Mortgage Fraud Strike Force
Chair
Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee, Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Former Member
Securities, Insurance, and Investment Subcommittee, United States Senate
Former Member
Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security Subcommittee, United States Senate
Former Member
Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate
Former Member
Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, United States Senate
Former Member
Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet Subcommittee, United States Senate
Former Member
Committee on Rules and Administration, United States Senate
Former Member
Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, United States Senate
Former Member
Subcommittee on Economic Policy, United States Senate
Former Member
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Former Member
Subcommittee on Energy, United States Senate
Former Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Water and Power, United States Senate
Member
Finance Committee
Member
Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Member
Indian Affairs Committee
Member
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee